In the first month of Fiscal Year 2027, Starkville is lagging behind last October’s collections by 4.45%. Meanwhile, Columbus is on pace with its collections from last fiscal year, with this month’s intake marking 0.15% increase compared to collections in October 2025.
The cities’ budget cycle began Oct. 1. Starkville budgeted FY 2027 sales tax collections at $10,608,750 while Columbus budgeted $12.5 million. West Point’s budget cycle began July 1.
Sales tax diversions run on a three-month cycle. Taxes are collected by retailers in the first month, sent to Mississippi Department of Revenue the next and then disbursed to cities and counties the third. Therefore, October reported collections reflect sales from August.
Columbus brought in about $992,929 from sales tax collections this month, up from October 2025 collections of $991,486. This marks a 0.47% increase from September’s collections of $988,288.
The city saw a rise this month in collections of both its restaurant sales tax and hotel sales diversions compared to October 2025. However, its collections from restaurants fell compared to September while collections from hotels rose.
Columbus collected $236,114 from restaurant sales tax diversions this month, a 5.14% increase from October 2025 collections of $224,561. This marks a 5.75% decrease from last month’s collections ($250,521).
The city received $37,522 from its hotel sales tax up 6.36% from October 2025 ($35,277). This marks a 14.84% increase from last month’s collections of 32,673.
Starkville collected $883,222 this month, down from October 2025 collections of $924,394. This marks a 11.24% increase from September collections of $794,007.
The city saw a drop this month in collections of both its restaurant and hotel sales tax diversions compared to October 2025, however, both did rise when compared to last month’s collections.
Starkville collected $274,383 restaurant sales tax diversions this month, a 2.03% decrease from October 2025 collections of $280,068. This marks a 16.24% increase from September collections of $236,042.
The city’s 1% hotel sales tax brought in $156,757, down 2.24% from October 2025 collections of $160,354. This is a 15.2% increase from September collections of $136,076.
West Point collected $234,728 in sales tax diversions this month, up 0.73% from September collections of $233,027. This marks a 12.91% decrease from October 2025 ($269,511.98).
Year-to-date, the city has collected $1,026,187 in sales tax diversions, up 2.36% from this time last year ($1,002,484.53). At its current pace, the city is expected to fall short of its projected budget of $3.1 million by about $21,440.
The city’s tourism tax brought in $32,327 this month, a 1.28% drop from last month’s collections of $32,745. This marks a 3.04% decrease from October 2025 ($33,340).
Year-to-date, the city has collected $133,550 from its tourism tax, a 4.46% drop from this time last year ($139,777).